THE  POWERS  OF  CONGRESS 
Constitutionality  of  its  Acts  on  Reconstruction 


.ARMING  TENDENCY  OF  THE  SEYMOUR  DEMOCRACY, 


SPEECH 


ION.  MATT.  It  CARPENTER 


AT  CHICAGO.  ILL.,  AUGUST  12th,  1868. 


GTGN.D.C, 


CHA1EMAN,     L-ADIE3    AXD     G 

IEN  :  Tne  occurrence  of  the  Pn-siucnti-.il 
impaign   ciiis  out   the  Americ.  a  ^eoulc 
examination  of  the  principle-  uud 
Le  measures  which  have  m-i.rkeu  the  ad- 
limstratlon  for  tho  preceding  term.     An- 
[her    Presidential  election  is    on    foot — 
lother  gathering  of  the  American  people 
mi  Maine  to   California,  from  the  lakes 
[the  Gulf,  which  may  now  be  aeci:  in  the 
lited  States,  for  the  same  purpose.     The 
;Ue   practical   question   is  whether  we 
jail  support  General  Grant  or  Governor 
lymour  for  President  of  the  United  States; 
(ries  of  "Grant !  Grant !"]  and  this  ques- 
>n  we  are  to  settle,  not  as  mea-worship- 
or  parasites,  but  by  reason  and  judg- 
it,  and  as  American  citizens,  conscious 
[the  responsibilities  which  rest  upon  us 
!  this  great  choice.     Glorious  as  Grant  is 
his  past  record,  if  he  stood  to-day — I  do 
ft  say  with  the  party,  but  upon  a  plat- 
and  principles  detrimental  to  t 


' 

throw  a!  It'.  '.gedto 

encourage  uud  comfort   rebellion,  or  whai 

;  or,  if  wecoulO 

>:lAy  imagine  such  a  transformation,  i  , 
Governor  Seymour  sLood  to-day  on  ;i  plat 
form  which  would  secure  us  the  fruits  of 
our  victory,  and  which  would  give  to  us 
lasting  and  permanent  tranquillity,  then 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  American  people 
would,  as  they  have  f  »t  six  years-, 

through  all  the  trials  and  bloodshed  of  the 
war,  support  the  pria.^les  which  are  em 
bodied  in  ti-c-i:-  .,1  dear  jis  their 
life,  [great  cheers,]  although,  it  would  pro- 
bably  be  equally  difficult  for  them  to  deter- 
mine  whether  they  would  say  that  the  p* 
triotic  Grant  had  left  their  ranks,  or  that 
the  unpatriotic  Seymour  had  left  their 
standard.  But,  by  examining  the  platform 
upon  which  these  respective  candidates 
stand,  it  will  be  found  that  each  is  truo  to 
~  vP?i2£*p»t$  .Which;  '^l^racterized  him 


during  the  Avar.  It  will  be  found  that 
Grant  is  struggling  now  to  secure  the  fruits 
of  the  victories  which  he  won,  and  that 
Seymour  is  to-d:iy  endeavoring,  as  far  as 
it  is  still  possible  to  do,  to  thwart  the  object 
which  the  Government  had  in  suppressing 
the  rebellion— to  secure  to  the  rebels,  as 
much  as  possible,  what  they  have  lost  by 
the  result  of  this  contest,  and  is  pursuing 
precisely  the  same  line  of  policy  to-day  that 
ho  intrigued  for  during  the  war. 

THE    DECLARATIONS    OF    THE   DEMOCRATIC 
PLATFORM. 

Tin  two  political  parties  "have  made 
un,"  as  the  lawyers  would  say,  "the  issues, 
and  sent  them  down  to  the  country  for 
trial."  One  convention  in  Chicago  and 
the  other  in  New  York  have  not  only  se 
lected  their  candidates,  their  standard-bear 
ers,  but  they  have  promulgated  their  plat 
forms,  or  their  principles.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  boili  parties  nrj  seriously  in 
dead  earnest  i:i  th>.:  issues  which  they  have 
made.  W<-  little  light  as  to  the 

plat  form   uf    the    Democratic    Coin 
from  the  speech  which  was  made  by  W.ale 
Hampton  af  urn  to  his  constitu 

ents  lie,  sa}  -,  thai  he  was  on  the  Coin- 
on  R-j-o/utions.  He  says  that  he 
had  prepared  a  set  for  himself,  but  found 
that  they  couldn't  1)3  adopted.  He  listened 
to  those  which  had  been  prepared  by  others, 
and  the  Democrats  on  that  committee  came 
around  him  and  assured  him  that  they  were 
witli  him,  to  the  utmost  of  his  wishes;  that 
they  would  do  all  in  their  power  to  give  the 
South  back  "  iho  Constitution  as  it  was  " 
before  the  war,  and  he  contented  himself 
with  simply  moving  an  amendment  to  one 
resolution  which  declared  the  governments 
of  the  States,  which  had  been  reconstructed 
under  the  auspices  and  patronage  of  Con 
gress,  to  be  unconstitutional,  revolutionary, 
and  void.  He  says  this  announcement  was 
met  with  enthusiastic  cheers  by  the  com 
mittee,  and  the  Democrats  plqdged 
selves  to  him  that  they  would  go  to  tluo  ut 
most  of  their  declaration.  What,  is  the 
utmost  of  that  declaration?  We  hear  sa 
much  said  about  what  is  constitutional  and 
unconstitutional  that  we  arc  in  danger  of 
losing  all  the  significance  of  that  declaration 
of  the  Democratic  party.  If  those  govern 
ments  which  are  now  existing  in  the  ten 
reconstructed  States,  of  the  South  ar,e  .un 


constitutional  and  void,  and  if  these  Demo 
crats  mean  to  carry  tint  declaration  into 
pracfu-  -.1  operation,  the  result  is  that  these 
governments  are  to  be  swept  away.  Another 
revolution  is  to  sweep  over  the  South ; 
anarchy  and  bloodshed,  and  another  four 
years  of  wasting  and  ruin,  is  to  follow  as 
the  result  of  that  revolution  accomplished 
in  the  South.  But  the  Democrats  have 
cloaked  this  matter  under  the  plausible  pre 
text  that  these  acts  of  Congress  are  uncon 
stitutional,  and  the  Republican  party,  ia  its 
convention  has  espoused  and  adopted  and 
promised  to  support  the  reconstruction 
policy  of  Congress.  The  Democrats  have 
appealed  to  the  reverence  our  people  feel 
for  the  sicred  instrument,  the  Constitution, 
to  elo:ik  and  cover  their  design  of  revolu 
tion  again  in  the  South,  and  thus  it  throws 
upou  us  the  burden  of  vindicating 
nstuutionality  of  the  reconstruction 
v  of  Congress.  Now,  I  am  aware  how 
:'r,  and  how  uninteresting  .it  is  to  dis 
cus  3  such  a  question  i:i  a  popular  audience 
like  this,  in  the  open  air,  amid  the  thunder- 
in  -t  and  confusion  :ty  like 
Chicago.  I  know  how  easy  it  is  for  a  pub 
lic  speaker  to  spend  his  apportioned  thirty 
nfinu'os  or  hour  in  cracking  jokes  which 
will  create  a  good  fueling  in  the  crowd  and 
read  upon  the  speaker.  But  the  misery  of 
our  Republican  speakers  i^  that  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Republican  party  all  have  heads 
on  them.  [Laughter  and  applause.  A 
voice— "Bully  !  that's  so!1']  They  all 
tbink,  and  read,,  and  reason,  [a  voice — 
"Thai's  the  difference,"]  and  they  demand 
of  any  speaker  who  is  to  occupy  fifteen 
minutes  of  their  time  that  he  shall  discuss 
some  principle,  shall  come  to  some  doc 
trine  ia  the  issues  of  the  war. 

CONSTITUTIONALITY    OP    THE    ACTION     OF 
CONGRESS. 

The  only  real  issue  made  by  the  parties; 
the  only  doctrinal  difference  in   the  two 
'•rms   which   arises   to   anything    like 
importance,  is  that  which  relates 
to  the   constitutionality   of  the  reconstruc- 
1  ion  policy  of  Congress.     This  little  squab 
ble  about  paying  off  our  debts— this  little 
ion  of  universal  suffrage,  and  a  fjew 
other  tilings,  very  important  themselves, 
are  questions  which  relate  to  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  Government  after  you  have 
got  a  government  to  be  administered.    But 


the  gr  •;>  ri-H'S  above,  thdt    - 

involves  p-Ai^o  and  war,  whL-h  tour 
life  of  I!,  jjs  our  c: 

•  ;is  one  people  under  the   Coustitv. 
ailed  Stales;  and  I   propose: 

:inir,  because  I  havo  been  requested  Jo 
id  because  I  think  it  important  in 
itself,  to  discuss  for  a  short  time,  as  -well  as 
I  a:n  able,  under  all  the  difficulties  of 
situation,  the  question  of  the  constihV'.: 
ulity  of  these  reconstruction  laws.  I  can 
not  make  such  an  argument  funcy  nor 
amusing-,  InU  I  will  try  to  state  clearly  and 
distinctly  the  grounds  upon  which  we  de 
fend  that  legislation.  To  do  this  we  must 
inquire  into  the  facts  of  the  case.  What 
la  the  situation  of  the  things  to  which  Con 
gress  was  compelled  to  apply  its  reconstruc 
tion  policy  ?  But,  to  save  words,  let  us 
take  the  State  of  Georgia  as  illustrating 
the  whole  principle,  for  what  is  true  of  one 
State  is  of  course  true  of  two  or  three  out 
of  all.  Georgia  was  one  of  the  original 
thirteen  States,  and  entered  this  Union  by 
adopting  a  constitution.  She  had  a  State 
government  organized  in  harmony  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  un 
der  a  State  constitution  which  required  all 
fcer  officers  to  swear  to  support  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  That  govern 
ment  continued  in  existence,  as  we  all 
know,  down  to  18GO  or  1881,  when  the  ma 
jority  of  her  people,  having  determined  to  j 
throw  off  their  allegiance  to  the  Govern-  ; 
ment  of  the  United  States,  and  levy  war,  if 
need  be,  to  make  that  declaration  good,  | 
and  to  make  Georgia  an  independent  na 
tion,  organized  a  new  State  government  in  j 
Georgia,  and  that  government  went  into 
practical  operation,  and  was  supported  bv 
the  people  during  the  entire  continuance 
of  the  war.  Now,  if  those  leaders,  af-ei- 
they  determined  to  levy  this  war,  had  called 
a  convention  and  framed  a  new  State  gov 
ernment,  with  new  officers,  and  had  levie-' 
war  upon  the  old  State  government  of 
Georgia  and  supplanted  it,  aijd  the  a  had 
entered  into  the  Southern  confederacy  and  ' 
levied  war  upon  the  United  States,  thero 
would  be  no  difference  of  opinion  in  this 
assertion  that  the  government  which  had 
come  to  exist  by  that  proceeding  in  Georgia 
was  no  government  in  the  Union  of  tho 
United  States.  And  yet,  in  a  legal,  consti 
tutional  sense,  the  people  of  Georgia  did 
what  was  precisely  equivalent  to  this.  Thry 
called  M  constitutional  convention,  and 
they  took  the  old  constitutional  Stitc  gov 
ernment,  changing  it  in  every  essential  par 
ticular  which  was  essential  to  its  exist' 
as  a  State  ^ovorucieut.  Instead  of  requir 
ing  its  officers  to  swear  to  support  the  (.' 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  they  require 
them  to  swear  to  overthrow  that  Constitu 
tion.  They  severed  in  every  particular 
every  cord  aad  bond  which  bound  them  as 
a  State  or  community  to  the  Constitution 
and  Uuiou  of  the  Uni'ted  States.  By  so 


'hey  created,  in  loyal  conU-mphtion, 
a  new"  government,  as  much  as  ihr-y  would 
in  the  case  which  I  have  supposed  of  their 
calling  a  convention  and  framing  a  new 
government  with  new  officers.  The  gov 
ernment  which  they  created  by  taking  the 
old  constitution  and  moulding  it  to  their 
views,  was  no  government  which  ha  ' 
in  the  Union  from  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution.  It  was  no  constitutional  govern 
ment  in  any  sense,  but  only  an  or 
tion  in  deadly  antagonism  to  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  and  under  that 
constitution  the  people  of  Georgia  organ 
ized  and  gave  their  voluntary  allegiance 
to  that  State  government,  went  into  the 
Southern  confederacy  and  levied  war  upon 
tho  United  States. 

THK  SOUTHERN  STATE  GOVERNMENTS. 

"Well,  after  a  while,  the  war  came  out 
just  as  every  man  who  believes  God  sits  on 
His  throne,  and  prefers  truth  to  falsehood, 
justice  to  injustice,  liberty  to  slavery, 
might  have  predicted  it  would  come  out. 
It  came  out  with  the  triumph  of  all  good 
things  over  all  bad  things.  [Loud  ap 
plause.]  And  our  armies  swept  every 
thing  before  them,  and  demolished  every 
citadel  and  stronghold  of  treason  and  re 
bellion,  and  they" planted  our  flag  in  old 
and  time-honored  places  after  sweeping 
away  the  rebel  armies,  and  after  sweeping 
the  rebel  States  they  swept  away  every 
thing  that  was  part  and  parcel  of  rebellion, 
every  instrumentality,  every  agency,  and 
every  means  by  which  traitors  had  sought 
to  levy  war  upon  th?  Government;  and 
these  revolutionary  Srate  governments 
were  the  principal  agency  for  tha1",  war. 
Now,  theii,  what  was  the  consequence  ? 
They  had  had  a  government  in  the  Union 
from  the  organization  of  the  Union  down 
to  18GO.  Tney  had  destroyed  that.  They 
had  set  up  in  its  place  a  revolutionary, 
illegal,  unconstitutional  government,  which 
ha. I  been  in  existent  until  Grant  swept 
.away.  Then  they  will  be  without 
any  State  government  whatever.  The  old 
government  they  had  destroyed,  ami  the 
new  government  we  h  id  destroyed.  They 
wore  without  any  government.  [  A;  ; 
2sow,  what  was  their  condition  ?  The  soil 
of  Georgia  was  still  a  p  ivc  of  the  dominion 
of  the  United  States;  t'io  people  of  (•• 
were  sMll  citizen*  of  the  United  • 
They  hvl  thrown  off  no  part  of  the  duty 
waich  'hoy  o\vl  fo  t!u;  Union.  The 
Union  1i .  l'hx  br  forfeij,e<l  no  part  of  its 
powjr  <nv:-  :!!•  an.  Tbny  -  "I  fur 

ther,  so  many  sju  ire  •  1    ^(>    many 

Ami-rlcm  citizens,  wiMiont  :i  local  ,<y 

Xo\v,  i-.iinifes'ly,  tiis  first  step  afu.T 
r  ended  was   for  some  one  to  estab 
lish  a  lo?al  gi)\-ernnvr 

us  to   the   ques.ion — wao  shall    do    that? 
The   Demo,  \   :>The   people  of  the 

Sl.ife   e^all   i-o    ir."     T.u    Democrat   .s.iy 


that  the  people  of  Georgia  bad  got  their 
baud  iu  in  making  governments;  they  had 
experimented  upon  the  subject  [derisive 
laughter;]  they  had  a  peculiar  and  special 
knowledge.  [Laughter.]  They  had  de 
molished  the  old  Union  State  governments, 
and  they  had  created  a  revolutionary  gov 
ernment;  they  had  seen  that  go  to  the  wall; 
'hey  had  built  a  Southern  Confederacy, 
and  over  tk.it  they  flung  out  its  flaunting 
nig  in  rivalry  with  the  Star-splangled  Ban 
ner  of  America;  and  they  should  form  this 
-State  government  for  Georgia. 

THE  TWO  THEORIES  OF  SECESSION. 

Now,  there  are  two  theories,  one  or  I  lie 
other  of  which  must  be  true.  The  Southern 
theory  of  the  situation  is  that  the  edict  of 
secession  passed  by  Georgia,  took  her  out 
of  the  Union  and  out  of  the  limits  ot  our 
Federal  dominions.  Upon  this  theory,  when 
we  conquered  that  State  her  soil  and  her 
3  were  as  subject  to  the  absolute  will 

conqueror  a"s  would  be  the  soil   and 

on  conquered  Mexico  or  any  other 
foreign  power  subdued  by  our  army.  If  this 
•;vas  their  condition,  then  it  wasnot  for  them 

whether  they  would  have  a  State  gov 
ernment  or  not;  it  was  not  for  them  to  say 
whether  they  would  ever  belong  to  the 
Union  or  not  as  an  independent  State.  It 
v/as  for  us  to  say.  It  was  for  the  conqueror 
to  dictaie  terms  to  the  conquered — not  for 

,:quercd  to  dictate  terms  to  the  con 
queror.  ["You  are  right,"]  Then,  upon 
i.'j(\r  theory,  Georgia  had  no  more  right  to 
Sitate  government,  to  come  back 
into  the  Union,  thun  the  people  of  Mexico 
had  a  right  to  demand  admission  into  the 
Union  when  Scott  planted  his  standard  on 
the  hulls  of  the  Montezumas.  Again,  the 
other  theory  is— the  Northern  theory  is— 
(he  constiUr.iomil  theory  is— that  the  ordi 
nance  of  eecch-  a  nullity;  that  it- 
was  no  protection  U  the  rebels  of 
the  South;  and,  although  we  chose,  as 
we  had  a  right  to  do,  to  exercise  as 
against  them  belligerent  rights— the  rights 
and  power  of  a  sovereign  over  his 
rebel  citizens — yet  they  acquired  by  the 
ordinance  of  secession  no  privilege  and  710 
protection.  "What  is  the  result  of  that  doc- 
irine?  The  result  of  that  doctrine  is  that 
when  the  war  ended  they  were  so  many 
subdued  and  conquered  traitors,  taken 'in 
'.he  crime,  taken  with,  the  blood  upon  their 
garments.  [Sensation.]  Thoy have  forfeited 
lift',  liberty,  property,  civil  government, 
and  everything  that  belongs  to  a  man. 
[Great  applause;  cries  of  "That's  so  !" 
You  have  got  ii  1"]  Upon  this  theory,  very 
clearly,  the  people  of  Georgia  had  no  right 
to  form  a  government  and  say  it  had  a 
right  to  conic;  back  into  the  Union.  Now, 
I  don't  care  which  theory  the  Democrats 
take  for  the  purposes  of  this  argument,  be 
cause  either  one  cu;s  their  own  throat  from 
car  to  ear.  [Great  applause  and  laughter. ] 


There  is,  then,  an  end  to  this  pretext,  that 

Georgia  could  settle  this  question.     Rebels 

may  say  when  war  shall    be^in,   where   it 

shall  begin,  how  it  shall  begin,  howif,  shall 

be  managed;  but  the  Government  must  say 

|  how  it  shall  end,  [cheers,]  ami  what  snail 

;  be  the  condition  of  the  conquered.  ["That's 

the  idea.'1     Applause.]     It  is  about  H 

I  after  hundreds  and  thousands  of  lives  have 

1  been  facriflccd — after  we  have  baptized  and 

!  fertilized  that  :  !on<! 

of  the  land — i 

had  the  courage  and  the  nerve,  and 

'  good  sense,  to  stand  up  and  talk  the  truth 

i  this  subject.     [Sensation,   applause, 

i Vipers. ]  It  is  clear,  then,  that  Georgia 

could  not  reconstruct  u  government  with- 

. '.r:nt.     Now,    tlio    only    party 

i    the  Government  of  the  United 

They,   as      i  could 

Tiie  General  Government  must 

i  POWER  TO    F.ESTORE  TITS    STATE    GOVERN- 

MEI-iTS. 

And,  then,  we  come  to  consider  the  fur 
ther  question:  How?  By  what  depart 
ment,  and  through  what  department  and 
agency  shall  the  United  States  act  to  the 
end  of  establishing  these  State  governments? 
ATA!  this  brings  "us  to  the  only  question 
upon  which  nny  of  the  departments  of  the 
Government  have  ever  held  different  opin 
ions.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  have  nil 
concurred  in  saying  that  tlio  result  of  the 
IS  to  leave  Georgia  without  any  civil 
government,  and  that  the  pooplc  of  Geor 
gia  wers  powlerless  as  a  government  in  the 
place  of  the  one  which  they  bad  destroyed. 
The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
decided  what  necessarily  leads  to  this  con 
clusion,  in  the  prize  cases  decided  in  180:3, 
when  they  decided  that  the  people  of  Geor 
gia,  without  reference  to  their  private  con 
duct,  were  to  bo  regarded  as  public  ene 
mies,  but,  although  they  were  to  bo  regarded 

i  as  public  Syuemies,  they  were  not  the  less 
traitors  to  the  Government  of  the  United 

j  States. 

ASSUMPTION   BY   MR.    JOIIKSOOT. 

Andrew  Johnson  had  taken  up  this  sub 
ject,  and  treated  it  with-  the  fullness  and 
the  wisdom  that  is  peculiar  to  himself,  lie 
had  said,  in  his  proclamation,  which  he 
issued  immediately  after  the  surrender  of 
Lee  and  Johnson,  that  this  rebellion  had, 
in  its  progress,  swept  away  all  civil  gov 
ernment  in  the  rebel  Slates",  and  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  owed  it 
as  a  duty  to  that  section  of  the  country  to 
establish  local  State  governments  there, 
and  he,  Andrew  Jonnson,  (being  the 
United  States, )  undertook  to  do  it.  And 
he  did  it— "in  a  horn."  [Cries  of  "And 
he  Oid  it  with  a  horn."]  Yes,  Doth.  I 
accept  the  amendment.  He  did  it  both 


The  President  of  the  United  States 
as  such,  dearly  had    no  authority  over  the 

'.     Our  people,  when   they  framed 
our  Government,  were  jealous  of  the  ex 
ecutive  power — that  is,  the   kingly  power, 
hers  were   Englishmen.     They 
11    the    contests  that  had 
'    of    England  with  blood 
iu       the      struggle       to      wrest       rights 
and     principles    from    the     Crown     and 
deposit    them     for    sife    use    and 

xerci-e  wi'h  the  Parliament  of 
England,  and  when  they  framed  our  Con 
stitution  they  determined  to  limit  and  cir 
cumscribe  and  bind  down  this  e, 
Broaching  Executive  power  within  very 
narrow"  limits.  There  is  no  danger  of  op 
pression  of  the  people  by  Congress.  The 
danger  is  always  of  oppression  and  usurpa 
tion  coming  from  that  power  which  is  cen 
tralized  in  one  man's  bosom.  There  is  no 
danger  that  Congress,  rent  asunder  as  it  is, 
and  must  ever  be,  by  cliques  and  factions, 
will  ever  consent  to  oppress  the  people,  be 
cause  they  can  never  agree  among  them 
selves  which  clique  shall  be  the  oppressors. 
?rlr.  Fess?nden  will  have  his  little  circle  of 
friends  ;  Judge  Trumbull  will  have  his ; 
Judge  Howe  will  have  his.  And  so  there 
are  a  dozen  cliques  in  the  Senate,  and  the 
danger  is  that  they  won't  bo  able  to  get  to 
gether  and  do  sonic  things  that  ought  to  be 
done  some  tinre.  [Great  laughter  and  ap-- 

.  ]     ITot  so  with  the  President  of  the 
United  That  great  rash  act  of  his 

which  brought  on  his  impeachment — the 
removal  of  Fhc  Secretary  of  War,  for  no  of 
fence  except  for  differing  from  him  in  opin 
ion,  and  diiTermg'from  him  in  this  particular, 
that  tho  Secretary  of  War  thought  fit  to  act 
according  to  his  own  convictions,  accord 
ing  to  the  Constitution,  and  with  the  party 
and  with  the  friend-3  who  placed  him  in 
power — that  rash  act  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  was  the 
result  of  no  deliberation  with  anybody. 
No  Cabinet  officer  knew  anything  about  it. 
Nc-ithcr  Scward  nor  his  chum,  Randall, 
ever  dreamed  that  the  thing  was  to  be  done. 
It  was  the  result  of  a  consultation  between 
Andrew  Johnson  and  his  demijohn  alone, 
[great  applause  and  laughter,]  and,  when 
the  purpose  was  formed,  it  was  executed  by 
an  order  written  at  his  own  table  at  night. 
No  oth'T  man  had  to  be  got  to  sign  it,  no 
other  ambitious  clique  had  to  be  conciliated. 
[Applause.]  This  I  have  alluded  to  only 
to  il!ustrat«>  the  fact  and  the  theory  that 
five-lorn  is  in  no  danger  of  overthrow  from 
a  Congress,  or  a  Parliament,  or  any  other 
multitudinous  deliberative  body.  It  is 
always  in  danger  of  encroachment  and 
overthro.w  from  power  which  is  consoli 
dated  and  may  be  exercised  upon  the  volition 
of  a  single  man.  So  our  fathers,  when  they 
framed  the  Constitution,  laid  upon  that 
ofiice  the  iirmest  and  the  strongest  bond. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be 


the  Commander  in-Chief  of  the  army  and 

a;ivy;he  may  grant  pardons  and  reprieves;he 
may  receive  ambassadors  and  other  foreign 
ministers;  ho  may  comrnis-i'<n  officers  of 
the  United  States  when  properly  appointed, 

'  and  he  shall  take   care   that   thy   laws   be 

faithfully  executed.     Those  ace  the  powers 

which  are  vested  in  the  President,  indepen- 

;  dent    of    Congress    and  cooperation  with 

|  Congress.     Now,   it  is  manifest  tha!;  none 

i  of  these  powers  include  that  of  reconstruct- 

j  ing  a  State  government,  and  when  Andrew 

rtook  t'>  ;;  itted 

and  upon  the    Co 

mon- 

,:nd    to    the     ;  '  ';;ere 

no  pretence    or   col.-r    .  ,  his 

whole  proceedings.     He  -titu- 

ti:mal   convention  to  fram.}   governnn 

:  'a- ion  of  -          ,  and  the 
ifiC-ilions  oftboso  who  sinniM  he  elected 
But  suppose  those  voters 
who  were  not  qualified — suppose  tho?e  came 
mven^on  who  wer<3  not  entitled  to 
r  his  proclamation— what  was 
the  coi:  t    He  could  not-  punish,  for 

•:i  that  ho  could  not  make 
law.  His  whoje  proceedings  were  unau 
thorized,  and  necessarily  and  consequently 
void.  But  as  to  the  power  of  the  President, 
I  need  not  j/ush  a  stop  further  or  discuss  it 
at  length,  because  the  Democrats  them 
selves  •  ;  and  as  far 
as  a  discussion  of  this  question  as  a  part  of 
our  platform  is  concerned,  it  is  sufficient  to 
rest  it  there.  Tbx-y  admit  this  point. 

THE  POWF/TIS  OP  COXGPvE.-S. 

The  question  then  recurs,  where  is  the 
power  of  the  General  Government  to  frame 
|  governments  in  these  rebel  States  ?  And, 
in  the  first  place,  the  general  proposition 
may  be  laid  down,  that 'if  the  power  is  in 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  at  all, 
and  is  not  conferred  by  express  words  upon 
the  President,  or  some  other  officer  of  the 
Government,  then  it  is  surely  vested  in 
Congress;  because  the  Constitution  pro 
vides  that  Congress  shall  have  the  power  to 
make  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  to  carry 
into  execution  the  power  conferred  upon 
Congress,  and  all  other  powers  conferred 
upon  the  United  States,  or  any  department 
or  officer  thereof;  consequently,  if  the 
power  of  framing  these  State  governments 
reposes  in  the  General  Government,  and  not 
in  the  people  of  Georgia,  and,  as  it  is  con 
ceded,  every  man  can  settle  the  question 
for  himself  for  thirty  minutes'  reading,  that. 
the  Constitution  does  not  locate  this  power 
in  the  President,  or  any  other  specific  ofli- 
j  cer,  or  in  the  courts,  then  it  follows  neces- 
!  sadly  that  this  power  of  the  Government  is 
j  to  be  exercised  through  the  power  of  Con 
gress,  to  make  laws  to  carry  that  power 
:  into  execution.  But  I  do  not  propose  to 
rest  here  upon  this  mere  general  pro- 


6 


position,    although  it  is    entirely   conclu 
sive.  There  are  other  provisions  of  the  Con- 

stiUU'r-  -Mstinct  grounds  upon 

which  .  i''ly   rested. 

The   Constitution  provides   that  'Congress 

IC3."       NOW,    V 

the  in-  '  ling  a  "new  State," 

:leto  be  admitted?     Half 
the  confusion  that  the  public  labor  under 
rding  this  subject  h;  iVom  the 

fact  that  tbG  word  "State1'  in  the  Constitu 
tion  is  used  with  various  meanings.  Somo- 
timrs  i;.  is  u.';;d  in  a  geographic  \]  <  : 
and  sometimes  in  a  political  sense.  For 
insiiiiKe,  when  the  Constitution  provides 
that  any  man  who  commits  a  crime  shall 
he  tried  in  the  "State"  where  it  was  com-  | 
milted,  it  means  a  geographical  State,  called 
the  State  of  New  York,  or  of  Georgia,  &G. 
When  it  says  a  "State"  may  he  a  party  to 
any  sui:  ii  t::'j  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  Sites,  it  means  a  u  State  govern 
ment,"  or  a  corporation,  which  is  created 
for  that  purpose.  Take,  for  instance,  Illi 
nois.  In  a  geographical  sense,  Illinois 
was  ill  ways  in  the  Union;  her  soil  was 
always  Federal  dominion;  her  people  were 
always  citifcen s  of  the  United  States.  But 
the  State  of  Illinois,  which  was  admitted 
into  the  Union  by  an  act  of  Congress, 
means  the  corporation  or  State  government 
which  was  organizsd  by  the  people  for 
that  purpose.  Therefore,  when  the  Con 
stitution  says  that  Congress  shall  provide 
for  the;v]missionof  "new  States,"  it  means 
"new  State  governments." 

WHAT  IS  A  NEW  STATE  ? 

The  Democrats  say,  "Tnis  is   conceded,  j 
but  Georgia  is  not  a  new  State.    Georgia  was 
one  ot'  the  original  thirteen,  one  of  the  old 
States,  and  clearly  that  provision   of  the  i 
Constitution  does  not  apply  to  your  case." 
Bur,  my  friend,  I  have  already  saiil  that  to  j 
admit  a  State  means  to  admit  a  State  gov-  | 
eminent,  and  when  the  rebels  of  the  South  i 
destroyed  the  State  government  which  had 
leen  in  the  Union,  and  put  in   its   place  a  | 
rebel  State  government   which  never  was  j 
in  the  Union,  and  when  the  armies  of  the 
United    States    swept    that  way   and   lelt 
Georgia  without    any  government  what- 
ever,    then,    when   a   goverment  shall    be 
organized  there,  to  be  admitted  again  into  j 
the  Union  aad  to  be  restored   to   the   Fed 
eral  rights,  that  government  thus   formed 
i.s  u  new  government,  as  much   as   though 
the  people  of  Georgia  had  never  had  a  gov-  | 
eminent  whatever.     What  difference  can 
it  make,  for  instance,  with   this   power   ot 
Congress  to  admit  a  State  government  and 
to  frame  a  government,  whether  the  people  ! 
who  are  to  be  admitted  have   once   had  a 
government  which   they   have   destroyed, 
or  whether  they  never  had  a  government. 
For  instance,  we  have  west  of  the   11  jcky 
mountain 3  so   many   square   miles  of  ter-  ! 
ritory,    and     so     many     citizens    of    the  ; 
United     States     born     in      the      country.  : 


We    say,    "Those    people    are    our   peo 
ple,  that  soil  is  our  soil,  and  they  are  • 
titled   to   our   protection."     The    Gov:-. 
meat  of   the   United    States   establish-- 
Territorial  government  there  and  p 
them   until    such   time   ;>*   they  como  to 
proper  condition  to  be  admit!'  \tc, 

in  full  communion,  into  the  Unio:i.    Now, 
this  power  and  jurisdiction  cf  --to         , 

do  this^thiug  grows  our,  of  this  fact,  simj  * 

— that  if  our  citizens  are  dwe!i:.  • 
pact  community  upon  our  goii.  lo 

cal  government,  (it  is   of  no   i 
how  that  state  of  things  is  brought  about— 
whether  it  is  because  they  moved  there  and 
never  had  a  government,  or  because  they 
have  been  th'-re  and  once  Jnd  a  govern-        J 
ment  and  destroyed  it;)    if  they  are  our 
people,  dwelling  upon  our  territory,  and 
have  no  government,  the  United   States  is 
bound  to  put  a  civil  government  there. 

[A.t  this  point  the  grand  torchlight  pro 
cession  filed  into  the  square,  aad  the 
speaker  suspended  his  remarks  for  a  few 
moments,  resuming  as  follows:] 

I  have  forgotten  precisely  where  I  was 
addressing  the  world  before  the  rest  of 
mankind  came  in;  but  I  believe  I  had  got 
through  with  saying  what  I  proposed  to  in 
reference  to  the  power  of  Congress  to  ad 
mit  new  States;  and  claimed  that  that  cov 
ered  the  entire  ground,  an. I  gave  Congress 
the  constitutional  power  to  reconstruct  a 
State  government  lor  Georgia. 

A  REPUBLICAN  FOKM  OF    GOVKESMENT. 

Suppose,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that 
we  admit  what  the  Democrats  claim,  th-it 
Georgia  never  was  out  of  the  Union,  and 
that  her  territory  and  people  remaining  in 
the  Union — as  we  conceded  they  always 
did,  because  they  could  not  get  out— that 
therefore  sue  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  Stato  of 
the  Union.  The  Constitution  provides  that 
the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
fctate  &  republican  form  of  government. 
Now,  if  Georgia  was  not  a  State  of  the 
Union  she  was  a  State  without  any  gov 
ernment  whatever;  consequently  she  had 
no  republican  form  of  Slate  government; 
and  Congress  was  called  upon  iu  its  ca 
pacity  of  legislating  and  executing  that 
power  to  take  the  proper  steps  to  put  a  re 
publican  form  of  State  government  in  | 
Georgia.  This  guarantee  of  the  Consiitu-  4 
tion  was  intended  to  secure  to  the  Union 
a  republican  State  government  for  such 
State,  without  reference  to  the  wishes  of 
fie  people  of  a  particular  State.  If  New 
York,  for  instance,  to-niorrow  should  call 
a  convention,  and  change  her  form  of  gov 
ernment  from  a  republican  to  a  monarchical 
govern  nicnt,  it  would  be  the  duty  of  Congress 
to  interfere,  because  the  Constitution  makes 
it  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  see  to 
it  that  there  is  a  republican  form  of  govern 
ment  for  them  in  New  York  ;  and  if  h- 
should  call  a  convention  to  abolish  tlie  form 
i  of  government,  and  resolve  herseJf  ;j  ac^. 


into  her  original  condition,  so  much  soil, 
an.!  *;>  mr.iy  people  without1  any  govern 
ment  whaLvcr,  Congress,  in  this  case, 
would  be  compelled  to  take  particular  steps 
to  put  a  State  government  there  for  the 
State  of  New  York,  be<::>uso  the  Constitu 
tion  has  imposed  this  duty  upon  the  Gefitc- 
r.<l  Government ;  and  the  Constitution  has 
provided  that  Congress  sha1!  pass  all  laws 
nece-sary  to  execute  all  the  powers  which 

\  the  Constitution  has  conferred  upon  the 
lied  States.  This  has  been  so  frequently 
decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States — so  clearly  has  it  been  announced  by 
Chief  Justice  Gardner,  especially  in  the 
Rhode  Island  case,  as  it  is  called,  reported 
in  the  7th  of  Howard,  where  he  distinctly 

v  lays  down  the  doctrine  that  it  is  the  pro 
vince  of  Coftgress,  and  Congress  alone,  to 
determine  whether  the  form  of  government 
is  republican.  It  must  also  have  the  power 
to  say  whether  there  is  a  government  there 
at  all,  because  without  so  doing  it  cannot  de 
termine  whether  a  particular  form  of  govern 
ment  is  republican  or  not— and  that  this 
duty  rests  upon  Congress— and  when  it  acts 
in  the  premises  its  decision  is  binding  upon 
every  part  of  the  Government,  and  cannot 
bo  questioned  in  court.  This  doctrine  is  so 
clearly  and  fully  decided  that  there  is  no 
necessity  of  argument  beyond  referring  you 
to  those  decisions.  In  two  or  three  cases 
they  have  been  before  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  have  been  settled  beyond  dispute,  and 
upon  these  three  grounds  that  I  have  men 
tioned;  first,  that  the  power  is  clearly  ia 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  is 
not  conferred  specifically  upon  any  other 
department;  secondly,  the  power  in  Con 
gress  to  admit  new  State  governments 
covers  this  State,  and  authorizes  Congress 
to  organize  a  government  for  the  purpose 
of  being  admitted;  and  thirdly,  the  duty 
which  the  Constitution  imposes  upon  Con 
gress  to  take  care  that  at  all  times  there 
shall  be  a  republican  Stats  govern- 

*  nient  for  each  State — from  tha4  ground 
lone  the  power  is  clearly  neduci'ole 
—  from  these  three  facts  —  from  these 
three  separate  sources  we  derive  the 
power  of  Congress  to  organize  State  gov 
ernments  for  the  rebellious  States,  which 
were  left  at  the  end  of  the  war  without  form 
of  government  whatever.  I  have  proposed 
|  this  evening  to  confine  myself  strictly  to  the 
constitutional  power  of  Congress,  and  shall 
leave  for  another  occasion,  perhaps  at 
Galena,  on  Friday  evening,  to  discuss  the 
other  independent  question,  of  how  wisely 
and  how  well  Congress  has  exercised  that 
constitutional  power.  This  is  a  distinct 
subjL-c:— tuo  full  to  be  spoken  of  here  to - 
nignt  uuder  the  circumstances,  and  at  the 
foot  of  a  speech.  I  shall  leave  the  subject 
of  reconstruction,  then,  with  this  imper 
fect  discussion  of  the  constitutional  power 
of  Congress.  That  is  the  only  issue  which 
the  Democratic  platform  makes  on  the  sub 


ject.     They 'cTo' not  q'nestio  '  dls  of 

their  acts.  They  struck  tin  death  blow  to 
the  system  by  saying  that  the  whole  pro 
ceedings  are  unconstitutional,  am"!  therefore 
void.  If  I  have  succeeded  in  convincing 
you  that  Congress  has  the  constitutional 
power,  my  object  has  been  accomplished, 
and  that  was  all  I  intended  to  do  when  I 
came  upon  the  platform. 

A  CONCLUDING  WORD  TO  THE  FENIANS. 

I  have  been  invited  to  como  here  to  Chi 
cago  and  address  the  Republican  Fenian 
Club  of  this  State.  As  the  camptigu  is 
thickening  at  home,  and  I.  shall  pr<. 
be  detained  there  until  November,  and  it 
is  doubtful  whether  I  shall  have  the  oppor 
tunity  of  coming  here  again,  I  shall  say  a 
few  words  to  the  Fcnhns.  I  am  not  as 
drunk  as  Blair  was  when  he  said,  'Tinne- 
gans,  I  am  with  you,"  [laughter,]  but  I 
have  a  few  words  which  I  wish  to 
you  on  the  subject  of  Fenian?,  and  upon 
several  of  your  duties  as  Fenians  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  Xow, 
it  is  too  late  in  the  day,  it  is  too  far  ad 
vanced  in  the  history  of  the  world,  for  any 
man  or  set  of  men  to  hope  to  accomplish 
great  results,  unless  they  h-ive  some  theory, 
some  philosophy  of  the  subject  which  can 
stand  an  examination  and  be  countenanced 
by  the  world.  What  is  the  philosophy  of 
Feniauism?  Suppose  a  Fenian  w<r 
to-night  here  why  Ireland  should  1 
and  why  Irishmen  should  govern  Ireland.' 
lie  could  not  give  any  other  answer  to  that 
11  tlr.m  to  say  that  every  nation 
should  be  free,  and  that  the  freemen  of 
every  nation  should  control  its  destiny. 
That  is  the  philosophy  of  Fenian- 
ism,  it'  it  has  any  philosophy.  That 
is  the  corner-stone  of  the  claim  which 
1  makes  to-day  for  an  independent 
government  for  Ireland.  Now,  the  ques 
tion  is,  what  can  any  Irishman  do  in  the 
United  States  to  further  that  end,  which  is 
so  near  his  heart?  and  if  I  were  to  give  him 
a  word  of  caution  to-night,  without  charg 
ing  him  one  cent  for  the  advice,  I  would 
tell  him  not  to  make  a  raid  upon  Canada. 
The  only  result  of  that  would  be  to  put  Pat 
in  jail,  and  not  free  Ireland.  There  is, 
nevertheless,  much  that  he  may  accomplish. 
He  may  accomplish  it  by  framing  a  public 
sentiment  for  the  world  with  that  great  party 
in  the  United  States  to-day  which  is  pledged 
in  all  its  policy  and  all  its  measures  to  ad 
vance  and  faithfully  apply  the  doctrines  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Such 
has  become  the  intercourse  of  the  world, 
by  means  of  the  telegraph,  that  the  senti 
ment  of  one  nation  is  known  and  felt  in 
another.  The  voice  of  tha  nation  is  heard 
all  round  the  globe.  If  you  can  unite  here 
with  that  party  and  give  it  an  ascendency; 
if  you  can  strengthen  its  hands;  if  you 
caii  contribute  to  make  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  a  'practical  fact;  then 


you  have  done  what  a  man  may  do,  and 
till  that  a  man  may  do,  to  form  the  public 
sentiment  of  the  world;  and  when  the 
public  sentiment  of  the  world  is  formed 
then  you  will  see  its  practical  fruits  being 
bomc  all  over  the  world.  It'  a  mean,  dirty 
scallawag  comes  into  a  community  to  live, 
one  or  two  things  always  follows  ;  he  either 
has  to  reform  and  conform  to  the  condition 
of  things  around  him,  or  he  hate  to  leave. 
Xow  nations  are  assuming  toward  each 
ether  precisely  that  relation,  and  the  opin 
ion  of  one  nation  upon  the  others  is  grov/- 
ing  to  be  precisely  what  the  opinion  of  one 
individual  is  upon  another.  Join  your 
hands,  then,  and  join  your  voices  with  the 
party  in  the  United  States  which  is  pledged 
to  sec  every  man  free.  There  are  certain 
principles  to  be  ruled  by  if  you  are  to  reach 
any  practical  results.  If  you  want  to  have 
fualigut  in  Chicago  you  must  consent  to 
have  sunlight  in  Springfield.  If  you 
want  to  be  ftee  yourself  you  must 
consent  that  every  one  shall  be  .free. 
If  j'ou  want  to  see  Ireland  free  }'ou 
must  consent  that  England  shall  be  free,  and 
Germany  free,  and  France  free,  and  every 
other  nation  as  free  as  yourselves  are  here 
in  the  United  States.  If  you  would  exer 
cise  this  power,  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  in  shaping  public  sentiment,  you 


must  act  practically  in  the  things  you 
reach;  you  must  make  liberty  a  practicj 
fact  all  around  you;   and  whether  the 
is  a  German  or  a  Frenchman,  an  Euglisl 
man  or  a  Yankee,    an  Indian   or   ; 
wnfetever  his  rights  are  before  the  < 
must  respect  them.     In  this  way   : 
doing  something  for  the  <)ov,--; 
over  the  world.     You    are   ; 
voices  to  the  chorus  of  the  nation  : 
be  heard  far  over  the  ocean,  in  t 
hold  and   in  every  dungt 
[Great  applause.]     That  is  your  pi 
that  is  your  duty,  good,    hone:  t  1' 
[Loud  applause," and   cries  of  "Go  on.1 
It  is  one  thing  for  you  t«»  <:.ay  \oii  *;re  wii 
ing  for  me  to  go  on,  and  another  f 
have  the  strength.     I  nm  in  very  much  tl 
condition  that  General  Cuss  was  iu  whc 
he  was  invited  to   dkcuss  the   0=1 1. 
improvements — there  ia    too    nuicli   noii] 
and  confusion.     I  cannot  talk   dosvn  tb| 
whole    tumultuous    multitude.     I 
answer  these  rockets.     I  cannot,  i:\ 
words,  talk  down  all  creation.     Tb 
tude  is  too  great  for  the  speaker,  and  I  al 
completely  exhausted,  and  you  will  have 
excuse  me. 

The  speaker  retired  amid  great  applauj 
and  cheers. 


Chronicle  Print. 


Gay  lord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
PAT.  JAN.  21,  i90fa 


YC  51397 


DAY 


is  book  is  due  on  the  last  date 
the  date  to 


subject  to  immediate  recall. 


J7M«y'58J  N 


